During a debate between parliamentary candidates for the Liverpool Wavertree constituency last April, Conservative Andrew Garnett declared discussion of the 1980s no longer "relevant" to today's city. "The 80s are always relevant to Liverpool" came the swift reply.

More from our series exploring the effects that the government's cuts will have on people's lives

The Thatcher years were some of the city's darkest. As unemployment and crime shot up, events such as the 1981 Toxteth riots were splashed on the nation's front pages, embodying the anger and hopelessness that permeated the local community. The families affected still feel the repercussions in a below-average life expectancy, some of the most deprived estates in Britain, and a stubbornly high level of people claiming benefits.

In the last two decades, however, the complete transformation of the city into a vibrant, world-class destination for art, music and business resulted in the erosion of the images of dereliction and deprivation that existed in the minds of many southerners. The figures, like the newly refurbished buildings, are impressive. Employment in Liverpool had increased by 12.4% between 1998 and 2007, compared with 9.5% nationally – an increase of 25,100 additional employee jobs over the period. Growth was particularly strong in banking, finance, and insurance, and the honour of being named 2008 Capital of Culture gave many the confidence that Liverpool could hold its own next to its greatest rival: Manchester.

Despite these achievements, certain structural weaknesses remained: a disproportionate number of Liverpudlians are employed in the public sector (39% compared to 26.9% nationally), and almost a third of working age people claim some kind of benefit (27% in Liverpool and 29% in neighbouring Knowsley). Some inner-city neighbourhoods saw little benefit from the gentrification and investment in the city centre.

First came the recession, and then came George Osborne. The Tories' cuts will punish a city that nonetheless saw huge investment and regeneration under Labour, and will damage a community that relies heavily on the public and service sectors for its wages. Both are under attack either directly or indirectly through government-mandated redundancies and the continuing effects of the economic crisis.

Quality of life in Liverpool is about to go into freefall. According to local sources within the medical profession, the NHS under the Lansley regime is already under assault in the city. Aintree primary care trust is planning to cut 300 staff over the next few years, and specialist units like Liverpool Heart and Chest and the paediatric hospital Alder Hey both face huge cutbacks that could even result in their closure.

The young are a particular target, just as they were under the milk-snatching Thatcher. Liverpool's children were recently in the spotlight because not one teenager in the whole of Knowsley has applied to Cambridge since 2003. This is unlikely to improve given the cutting of funding to AimHigher, which encouraged children whose families may not have attended university to apply, and the scrapping of the educational maintenance allowance, currently given to 6,937 of Liverpool's 16- to 18-year-olds. Even Liverpool's foetuses will not be spared Osborne's axe, as the Pregnancy in Health grant is scrapped.

The systematic intent of the Tories to devastate a city should already be clear, but in case there was any doubt, let me remind you why: the city of Liverpool absolutely always votes Labour. A Liverpudlian would sooner buy a copy of the Sun than admit to having voted Conservative. As a result there has not been a Conservative member of Liverpool city council since 1998, and he was the lone representative. The last time the Council was Tory-run was during the 1967-1971 session. It is hard not to assume this is why Liverpool will receive the maximum 8.9% cut to its local government funding, whereas a wealthy authority like Richmond-on-Thames will receive just 0.6%.

Unemployment was actually going down before the arrival of the cuts, but will undoubtedly increase when workers in public administration are let go as part of the 500,000 the government has promised to send to the dole queue. Liverpool is set to become the case study for a city destroyed for a second time by the economic policy of a Conservative government, and they are not the only ones. It is time for the north to fight back.